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At the end of the just-concluded hearing of the Super Committee, Fiscal Commission Co-Chair and CRFB Board Member Erskine Bowles presented his top-line numbers for a Go Big solution that could represent a compromise between both the Republican and Democratic offers on the Committee as its deadline draws near. By taking into account what is reportedly being discussed in the Super Committee from the Republicans' and Democrats' plans, Bowles took the numbers and found middle ground, without offering the specifics, on what a plan could look like.

Using the top-line numbers that Bowles released, this plan would likely stabilize our debt and put it on a downward path, something that the Super Committee should be trying to accomplish.

Budget Area

Deficit Reduction

Discretionary Spending

$300 Billion

Health Care

$600 Billion

Other Mandatory

$300 Billion

Chained CPI

$200 Billion

Revenue

$800 Billion

Interest

$400 Billion

Budget Control Act and CR Savings (Approximately)

$1,300 Billion

Total

$3,900 Billion

For the health care savings, Bowles noted in the hearing that $100 billion in savings could come from raising the Medicare eligibility age, something that CRFB has said before would be a good idea.